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High performance communication is necessary to ensure that when people speak, their voices will rise above the ceaseless chatter and infinite information people will be bombarded with each day. There are three requirements necessary to achieve high performance communication:

1. A clear strategy: Speakers must develop a clear strategy for their presentations based on the desired outcome of the speeches.

2. Practice: As with any skill, mastering high performance communication requires practice. Meyers and Nix provide a self-assessment to help identify which areas speakers need to improve upon as well as a tool to help interpret their scores on the self-assessment.

3. Feedback: When communicating, the only thing that counts is the listener’s experience. Therefore it is essential that speakers elicit feedback from others. Understanding what the audience is experiencing is the only way speakers can fine-tune and improve their messages. The authors provide a “Communication Feedback” form to help speakers easily capture the impressions from their audiences.

The three parts of high performance communication that need to be mastered are: content, delivery, and state.

Understanding the dynamics of human behavior and how to effectively approach different people are critical skills for sales professionals. Along these lines, a salesperson’s first order of business is to observe rather than react. Observation leads to selecting the right approach for each person.

Assertiveness, responsiveness, and adaptability are three dimensions of human behavior. Assertiveness and responsiveness play a role in each of four distinct behavioral styles:

A driver requires a minimum amount of responsiveness and wants a salesperson to get to the point.

An expressive will become enthusiastic as long as the salesperson appeals to his or her vision and goals.

An amiable requires a warm and friendly approach; the salesperson must take time to build rapport to achieve a trusting and mutually beneficial relationship.

An observant and knowledgeable salesperson will be able to key in on a prospect’s behavioral style and tailor his or her sales approach accordingly. Likewise, salespeople themselves will align with one of these behavioral styles. An understanding of self is as important as an understanding of others.

Adapting to Your Customer

Adaptability is the behavioral dimension that comes into play when salespeople are dealing with others, as they must adapt to each prospect’s style and potentially overcome their own styles while doing so. The Platinum Rule of “Do unto others as they would have you do unto them” takes into account that not everyone wants to be treated the same way. It should be a guidepost for adjusting the sales approach to match a customer’s behavioral style.

Becoming adaptable is a learnable skill. Adaptability is based on:

*Adjusting one’s image.

*Targeting presentations to meet others’ needs.

*Possessing competence.

*Maintaining a willingness to receive feedback.

There are specific adaptability strategies for addressing each of the behavioral types. Additionally, the market now comprises four distinct generations:

Civics (or the “greatest generation”).

Boomers.

Gen Xers.

Millennials.

Each of these generational groups has specific values, behaviors, and communication preferences that salespeople need to be aware of and adapt to.

Understanding Customers’ Needs

Because selling value is based on understanding a customer’s wants and needs, a customer needs analysis should be performed for each sales effort. The goals of this analysis are to:

*Win prospects over early.

*Focus on needs and desires.

*See things from the prospect’s perspective.

*Establish trust.

*Gain high-quality input so as to make the best recommendation.

Listening is one of the best methods to achieve an understanding of customer needs. Taking notes is also extremely important. Whether the prospect is an individual or a large group, the overall objective is to gain information and knowledge that will lead to a proposed solution that best meets the prospects’ wants and needs.

Presenting Your Value Proposition

Communicating needs-based benefits is the primary way to create value in the prospect’s mind. Needs-based benefits are benefits that match the customers’ definitions of value and meet their needs at the current time.

Third-party references and testimonials inspire confidence and are excellent ways to communicate value to clients and prospects. Inside influencers (trusted individuals from outside the organization) are very useful in testing and confirming the value of a proposed solution and can help a salesperson refine a presentation.

Additionally, any references to the salesperson’s team and company should be contexted as “we” rather than “them;” each presentation should be unique; and any presentation should seek to inspire trust and ensure the salesperson has the prospect’s best interests in mind.

Millennials want to know that what they do matters. They want to understand the context and contribution of their work, particularly if they feel the work is menial and entry level. Management can help keep these workers interested by involving them immediately in an onboarding process. From the start, a new-hire Millennial should be enlightened about the organization’s mission and how his or her job, however mundane, fits into those goals.

Older workers often complain that they never had to be told how their job fit into the big picture. They were willing to start at the bottom and work their way up, regardless. However, those in Generation Y need to feel that they belong and make a difference. A company that welcomes Millennials into the workplace will freely share and reinforce its vision with workers. It will delineate how the work of an individual and team affect the company’s mission. Finally, it will acknowledge a larger purpose by being actively engaged in the community. This can be achieved by:

Offering employee match donations.

Focusing on one to three nonprofits that are aligned with the company’s mission.

Replacing client gifts with donations to charities.

Assisting employees in their volunteer efforts.

Sponsoring volunteer team days, where employees spend a workday helping in the community.A Good Fit on a Good Team

Chemistry in the workplace is an important aspect of company culture. Many Millennials have seen their working parents deal with people they do not respect or do not want to associate with, and prefer not to do the same in their own careers. A Millennial wants his or her job to be a good “fit” from the start. Management can help make that fit work for everyone involved by clarifying the team’s and the company’s values. Fit can be determined even before the application process. For example, the company’s values, and a description of the company’s culture, should be stated on the posted job description.

Employees’ personalities also play a part in whether they are a good fit for their teams. Personalities can be assessed using a variety of tools, such as a personality indicator (e.g., the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator or Strength Finders assessment). Once the personality of each team member is better understood, it will be easier to make adjustments to ensure that everyone’s contribution is maximized.

It is a good idea for managers to review the team dynamics on a regular basis. They should check in after 30, 60, and 90 days to determine how new team members are fitting in.

Meaningful Acknowledgement and Appreciation

Parents, coaches, teachers, and camp counselors of Millennials gave them trophies, ribbons, and medals to reward them for just participating. Many Millennials have been conditioned to expect that same level of acknowledgment and appreciation in the workplace. Because of this expectation, they now have a reputation for being needy.

Showing appreciation in the workplace is beneficial for employees of all ages; however, it must be authentic to be effective. Managers need to establish a culture of true appreciation that reinforces real contribution. Once such a culture has been established throughout the organization, it can significantly improve morale and performance for the entire team.

The words “thank you” go a long way in reinforcing true appreciation in the workplace. Expressions of such appreciation can take many forms, such as an email, text message, or handwritten note; a group thank-you at a team meeting or a planned team celebration; company appreciation days for support staff or those in particular roles; and recognition of a birthday, anniversary, or other personal milestone. Regardless of the method used, the acknowledgment must be sincere to be effective.

Give Clear Direction

Just as Millennials need to know why their work is meaningful, they also need clear direction about how to accomplish that work. While conveying those directions, managers can use the opportunity to solicit Millennials’ input and ideas.

Ambiguity can be avoided by providing clear and specific directions to all employees. When deadlines are given, there should be enough specific details that they cannot be misinterpreted. For example, instead of saying that a task needs to be completed by the end of the day, a manager should give a specific time. Terms like “shortly,” “end of day,” “end of the month,” or even “tomorrow” are ambiguous and can be interpreted differently by team members.

Generation Y in particular has a different sense of time than older generations. For example, a Millennial may not anticipate that a particular task will require as much time as a manager expects. He or she may have a different view of what defines high-quality work. Both Millennials and their managers should never make assumptions; rather, managers should describe the quality of work required and the specific time involved, while Millennials should ask for further clarification when needed and communicate any delays or unexpected results.

Feedback Is a Gift

Millennials want and need feedback. Managers are constantly asked for check-ins so their Millennial employees can make sure they are “on the right track.” On the other hand, these same managers cannot understand why their Millennial employees appear to be so clueless. This, of course, has been a common theme among managers and young employees for many generations, including with Baby Boomers and Gen Xers.

Feedback can be a gift, given to employees and coworkers, to help them capitalize on what they are doing well and improve other skills. Feedback does not cost anything, but it can prove invaluable in reducing time and frustration for all involved.

Timing is extremely important when providing feedback. Corrective feedback should be given as soon as possible to action that required it. This makes the feedback more meaningful to the employee and allows for immediate revision; also, it prevents a manager’s frustration from growing and influencing the conversation.

Managers and coworkers can use effective language to provide feedback in a constructive manner. The communication circle, developed by two executive coaches, separates facts, feelings, reasons, and blame. People offering feedback should be careful to avoid accusatory questions, such as “why” questions, and instead use questions that get to the matter at hand, such as “how” and “what” questions.

Actionable, defined goals provide the framework for success. Writing goals down and committing to a time frame dramatically increases the odds of achieving them. As individuals go about setting goals, they should address each of the following eight categories to help ensure life balance:

1. Career goals: It is important to avoid career complacency.

2. Education and personal development goals: New skills and continued education improve performance.

3. Family goals: A secure and balanced family life is usually the best and strongest support system.

4. Financial goals: Even just a small amount of planning and discipline can ease financial concerns.

6. Social, hobby, and extra-curricular goals: These offer balance as well as the chance for increased socialization, which is always important in sales.

7. Spiritual goals: Spirituality is a personal commitment to greater meaning in life.

8. Community: Giving back to one’s community contributes to a successful and significant life; a person should always make the time and find the resources to give.

The next step in goal setting is to evaluate and rate each category in terms of current state and desired state. Based on this process, an individual can then develop tactical plans for improvement (including a defined time frame) within each category.

Even with goals firmly in place, habits are what drive day-to-day behavior. The following three steps will help eliminate bad habits that can undermine goal achievement and develop good habits that will support success. Individuals should write down the:

Habit to be changed.

New habit that will replace the old habit, the expected results from the change, and a detailed tactical approach for developing the new habit.

Date to begin the change and end date for internalizing the new habit.

Managing Yourself and Your Market

Good time management is foundational to effective selling. Most successful salespeople have the ability to get more done in a specific amount of time than do others. Good time management is a skill anyone can learn and improve upon.

Preparation is vital to good time management. Sales professionals who want to improve their preparation abilities should:

*Establish a time and place for planning activities.

*Invest time and effort in prospecting.

*Carefully plan each day.

*Include call counts in daily plans, including specifics on who to call upon.

*Extend plans to cover weeks, months, and years.

*Carefully consider the appropriate mode of contact for each prospect and client.

Most importantly, individuals should avoid distractions and stay focused on the present.

Like time management, creativity and imagination are also part of self-management. Thinking big, avoiding complacency and a self-limiting attitude, and looking for opportunities to offer innovative solutions are behaviors that set high-performing salespeople apart from the crowd.

Strong communication skills are essential to successful selling. The critical aspects of communication that directly impact the sales function are quality, timeliness, frequency, and medium.

Managing the market is essentially about attracting and retaining customers. U.S. Learning’s Market Share Model identifies four market aspects that affect a sales professional’s market share:

Market expansion.

Market contraction.

Front door (acquiring customers).

Back door (losing customers).

Of the four, acquiring customers and losing customers are the two aspects over which salespeople have control. Understanding and communicating value, performing stellar service, staying informed, and keeping in close touch with customers are ways to attract and keep prospects, and thereby increase market share.

How to Build a Loyal Following

It is much more costly to acquire a new customer than it is to keep an existing one. Also, loyal customers often bring new customers into the business. Improving customer loyalty should be every salesperson’s goal. Creating value for customers is the key to increasing loyalty.

The Loyalty Ladder is a six-step framework for customer loyalty, with sales contacts represented as:

Suspects (potential customers).

Prospects (likely customers).

Customers (people who have bought from the company).

Clients (repeat customers).

Advocates (clients who also champion the company).

Confidants (clients with whom the company and salesperson have developed a special, mutual relationship).

The goal is to move people from the bottom to the top portion of the ladder. Customer-centric, relationship-focused selling achieves this.

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In 2014, there were over 77 million Millennials between 22 and 34 years of age. The number of Boomers is roughly the same. Each of these generations outnumbers the Gen Xers by about 68 percent. The large size of Generation Y suggests it is likely to have as significant an impact on the culture, and in particular on the workforce, as the Boomers did.

Since the 2008 financial crisis, a number of myths about Generation Y have emerged. The six most prevalent are:

Millennials feel a sense of entitlement.

Millennials expect to be rewarded, and even promoted, just for showing up.

Millennials do not work hard.

Millennials do not complete their work and will not take initiative.

Millennials are casual and disrespectful.

Millennials are not willing to do their part and pay their dues, and they want freedom, flexibility, and work-life balance as soon as they begin their careers.

To be able to work with and manage Millennials, Boomers and Gen Xers must discover the truths behind the myths. Additionally, Millennials must do their part to understand why their older coworkers are frustrated.

Generation Y is the first “digitally native” generation. Its members have grown up with technology touching almost every part of their lives. This technology has fostered a sense of immediate gratification. Technology has also contributed to a different concept of time and place for Millennials. They can connect with anyone at any time, and access any information they want when they want it.

Millennials are also the most educated generation in the workplace today. Caraher blames grade inflation by colleges and universities for a part of the problem concerning Millennials’ work ethic. Secondary education has labeled most Millennial graduates as above average and allowed for negotiation with grades and feedback. Such practices have not helped others’ reservations regarding this generation’s ability to get work done. Parental over-involvement also hinders Millennials’ job satisfaction and tenacity.

Given that Millennials will constitute nearly half of the workforce by 2020, companies need to understand, appreciate, and effectively work with them without changing their standards of performance.

The following characteristics and behaviors are likely to appeal to an interviewer:

*Being well-rounded, interesting, and curious about the world.

*Caring about more than just the specific job and showing interest in the entire business.

*Sharing a passion for something.

*Demonstrating a willingness to admit to mistakes and embracing them as learning opportunities.

*Having opinions on current affairs.

*Showing initiative.

Interviews provide individuals with opportunities to bring their experiences, qualifications, personalities, and unique skills to life. For the company, the interview is an opportunity to assess a candidate’s fit with company culture.

The techniques below can help ensure a successful experience before, during, and after the interview.

Before the Interview

Interviews are like class assignments–they require research. Candidates should spend time learning as much as possible about the company and the specifics of the job. The goal is to be able to have an intelligent and informed conversation about the company. They should practice these conversations with fellow students to get comfortable.

Candidates can learn about the interviewers from online sources like LinkedIn and Google. This research provides common ground and topics for conversation. They can anticipate questions that will be asked and develop responses in advance. Candidates should also come prepared to speak very specifically about their three top strengths, with reinforcing examples.

It is important to bring questions to the interview as well. This is another opportunity to show thought and interest in the company. Candidates should just be sure their questions have not already been answered elsewhere.

During the Interview

First impressions are very important. Candidates must dress professionally, be on time, behave politely, and use body language that reflects calm confidence. When invited to share information about themselves, candidates should present that information clearly and concisely, without rambling on. They should avoid the tendency to talk too much and too fast. In an interview situation, less is always more.

Sometimes candidates will make mistakes when answering questions. In this scenario, they should keep calm and ask for the opportunity to restate an answer. Sometimes candidates will simply not have answers to certain questions. They should be honest and admit they do not have a good answer.

Candidates should ask questions that show interest in the company, not an interest in themselves, including questions that extend beyond the company to the industry and global affairs.

After the Interview

Candidates should always follow up with personal notes thanking interviewers for the opportunity to meet.

The best communicators are first and foremost keen listeners and keen observers. Speakers engage their audiences by listening to and observing audience members, then tailoring their communications to appeal and engage those members. These principles apply to the work environment as well. New employees’ first order of business will be to observe, learn, and test their communication skills, all while paying attention to the responses they receive. This is how individuals build rapport and respect.

A common mistake new graduates entering the business world make is to “over share” their knowledge. This can be off-putting to colleagues. Ultimately, the workplace is more about people than it is about information. Success comes from improving relationship-building and people skills.

The First Day of a New Job

The first day on a new job can be nerve-wracking. Common expectations are that the initial weeks and months will be a learning experience. Much like in the interview process, new employees should seek to make good impressions, listen more than they talk, be respectful, and focus on learning.

Tips for making good first impressions include:

*Dressing in alignment with others in the office.

*Being punctual, always.

*Being observant, polite, and helpful.

*Showing confidence.

*Being friendly while respecting boundaries.

*Thinking things over before asking questions, then asking good questions.

*Absorbing as much learning as possible.

*Syncing online profiles (like LinkedIn) to reflect the new position.

Establishing a Rapport with Your Colleagues

Though individuals can choose their friends, they cannot choose their colleagues. Successful people find ways to develop rapport with everyone in the office, whether they like them or not. Good communication is critical. A respectful, open-minded, and nonjudgmental approach helps ensure good relationships.

Remembering someone’s name makes a great impression, but many people have a hard time doing so. This is a weakness that must be corrected, and it can be overcome with practice. Individuals can try these methods to improve their ability to remember names when introduced:

*Listen very carefully with a focused effort to remember.

*Ask again immediately.

*Probe for more information about the name to facilitate memory.

*Create a mental picture to go with the name.

*Get the person’s business card.

Teamwork and Poor Performance

Teamwork can be difficult when personalities clash or someone is not carrying his or her weight. However, the sign of a good leader is to be able get along with everyone, set aside differences, and help the team meet objectives.

When a team is dysfunctional, a leader can get it back on track by:

*Having an open dialog to probe for the underlying reasons for the dysfunction.

*Being a positive influence.

*Making sure to listen to others respectfully, and then acting from knowledge gained.

*Being inclusive of team members who are being left out.

*Seeking out more information if there are knowledge gaps.

*Creating socializing opportunities for the team to avoid “all work and no play.”

Getting People to Say “Yes”

The ability to influence others is an ongoing leadership challenge. Some people are naturally better at it than others. However, like other leadership skills, it can be developed. The more an individual’s opinions, predictions, and actions garner positive results, the more trusted he or she becomes as an influencer. Timing, positioning, confidence, and authenticity all play a part.

Part of the reason that many businesses struggle with talent measurement is because they do not know what measurement methods and tools are at their disposal. Considering the following eight measurement methods:

1. Tools for sifting candidates. Sifting tools are a common component of many firms’ hiring processes. Typically, sifting tools are used in the early stages of the hiring process as they allow a business to narrow down a large pool of applicants. These tools can be preprogrammed algorithms or scoring systems that select the best résumés from the pile.

2. Interviews. Research shows that well-conducted interviews lead to accurate hiring judgments. While interviews do not measure a person’s competencies, they are shown to successfully gauge their social skills and experience. For interviews to be effective, businesses must ensure that they have structure. The biggest problem with interviews is that they are subject to interviewers’ biases.

3. Psychometric tests. Psychometric tests are questionnaire-based tests that evaluate factors like intelligence, personality, and integrity. When crafted well, these tests have been proven to be quick, cheap, and accurate. The most common problem with psychometric tests is that many do not have enough research to back up their accuracy.

4. Assessment centers. Traditionally, assessment centers are composed of multiple assessors who observe a group of participants over a series of exercises and tests while rating their competences. They offer a rigorous process that involves multiple perspectives. The limitations of assessment centers include the decline in their validity and the travel costs of sending candidates.

5. Situational judgment tests. Also known as “low-fidelity simulations,” situational judgment tests (SJTs) present people with realistic work scenarios before asking questions about them. SJTs can test people’s behavioral tendencies or their knowledge. Although they are easy to run, SJTs need to be well designed to deliver good levels of validity.

6. Individual psychological assessment. There is a lack of evidence to prove the benefits of individual psychological assessments. However, many organizations like to use this talent measurement process to determine if mid-level to senior executives are ready for promotions. It is an excellent way to evaluate an individual’s “fit.”

7. 360-degree feedback. This measurement method evaluates a person by asking a range of their colleagues to answer questions about them. The questions are designed to measure people’s competencies or their performance levels. The feedback received from the people questioned is generally regarded as fair and valid. However, the method usually fails to distinguish high performers from poor performers and is inefficient in that many participants interpret their ratings of a person as how much they like them.

8. Work sample tests, simulations, and games. Along with simulations and games, work sample tests have been found to be fair and capable of predicting performance. It is best to use this method in the recruitment process, particularly for skilled or semiskilled roles. The main limitation to this method is that if the design of the work sample is poor it is rendered ineffective.